| Syria wages PR fight on sanctuary for Christians Posted: 07 Apr 2014 12:50 PM PDT  When the Syrian opposition took over the Armenian-Christian town of Kessab in coastal Syria last month, its 2,000 residents fled. Instead, rebels appear to be using Kessab as an opportunity to try to undo their reputation for extreme brutality towards Syria's Christians and Shiites. But the Assad regime, which considers itself the protector of minorities, has launched a media campaign to demonstrate how Islamists are terrorizing Christians in Kessab, turning the town into a public relations battlefield in Syria's civil war. Christians' fears of the armed opposition have been stoked by events such as the Hatla massacre, in which at least 30 Shiite villagers were killed, and by snapshots of life under the control of extremist groups: strict Islamist doctrine, public beheadings of "infidels," and the alleged levying of a jizya, or protection tax, on some Christian communities by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, an Al Qaeda-linked militant group.
|
| Senate nears passage of jobless-benefits bill Posted: 07 Apr 2014 12:35 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — Capping a three-month struggle, the Senate closed in Monday on passage of election-year legislation to restore jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed that expired late last year.
|
| Senate nears passage of jobless benefit bill Posted: 07 Apr 2014 12:21 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is closing in on passage of election-year legislation to restore jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed that expired late last year. |
| It's a human, not a 'bug splat' Posted: 07 Apr 2014 12:21 PM PDT  Artists install massive poster of girl in Pakistan field in plea for humanity from drone operators.
|
| As Pistorius takes the stand, South Africans ask: Is he one of us? Posted: 07 Apr 2014 10:18 AM PDT  Take away the Dutch-inflected surnames of most of the protagonists and witnesses, and the trial of Pistorius, on charges that he murdered his girlfriend, sometimes feels almost placeless — a splashy celebrity whodunit that could have happened anywhere in the West. Here in South Africa, however, it has become far more personal, and the question of his guilt or innocence has cut unexpected lines across this socially and economically divided country. Pistorius told a three-judge panel he was "simply trying to protect Reeva" when, on Valentine's Day last year, he shot through a bathroom door four times, killing her instead of what he thought was an intruder. The prosecution argues the sprinter shot Reeva Steenkamp after a bout of angry shouting. While Pistorius could have been cross-examined today, the chief judge, Thokozile Masipa, ended the trial early, accepting the defense argument that the defendant had not slept the night before and was exhausted.
|
| A look at key points of Pistorius' testimony Posted: 07 Apr 2014 10:18 AM PDT  PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — Oscar Pistorius began testifying at his murder trial Monday by apologizing to the family of the girlfriend he shot dead last year, saying as he held back sobs that he was trying to protect Reeva Steenkamp when he fired four times through a toilet cubicle door.
|
| Girl missing, 100 rescued after storms spark flash flooding Posted: 07 Apr 2014 09:31 AM PDT  A 9-year-old girl appeared to have been swept away by flash floods triggered by severe storms in Mississippi and more than 100 people were rescued from deluged apartment buildings in Alabama, authorities said on Monday. Firefighters in a Birmingham, Alabama, suburb worked for six hours to evacuate residents by boat and rope pulls after swift waters from a nearby creek flooded their apartments, said Homewood Fire Department Lieutenant Gus Murphree. Authorities in Mississippi were still searching for the young girl, believed to have been carried away by flash-flood waters triggered by storms that were expected to head north into the eastern United States. The missing child was from Yazoo County, where flooding had affected homes and businesses, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said.
|
| Iran Guards say dismantle foreign-linked spy ring Posted: 07 Apr 2014 08:00 AM PDT TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard says its agents have dismantled an alleged espionage network with links to foreign intelligence agencies seeking to sabotage key industrial and military sites in the country. |
| Pistorius apologizes at his murder trial Posted: 07 Apr 2014 08:00 AM PDT  PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — Stifling sobs, Oscar Pistorius took the witness stand Monday in his murder trial and apologized to the family of the girlfriend he shot dead, describing himself as traumatized and now on antidepressant medication, and sometimes waking from nightmares to the "smell of blood."
|
| 'I'm scared to sleep,' testifies a tearful Pistorius in trial Posted: 07 Apr 2014 06:57 AM PDT  By David Dolan PRETORIA (Reuters) - His voice cracking with emotion, Oscar Pistorius took the witness stand in his own defense on Monday, saying the Valentine's Day shooting of his girlfriend last year had left him sleepless, terrified and plagued by nightmares. The disabled South African track star, on trial for murder, also apologized to the mother of model Reeva Steenkamp, saying he fired four times through a toilet door at his luxury Pretoria home in the belief he was defending her from an intruder. Steenkamp, a law graduate and model, was hit by at least three rounds fired by Pistorius, one of which - to the head - killed her almost instantly, the court has heard. Reeva's mother June Steenkamp, sitting in the public gallery of the packed Pretoria courtroom, bowed her head and remained steely faced.
|
| Iconic Hollywood actor Mickey Rooney dies at 93 Posted: 07 Apr 2014 06:57 AM PDT  LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mickey Rooney's approach to life was simple: "Let's put on a show!" He spent nine decades doing it, on the big screen, on television, on stage and in his extravagant personal life.
|
| LBJ daughters reflect on Civil Rights anniversary Posted: 07 Apr 2014 06:57 AM PDT  Luci Baines Johnson and Lynda Bird Johnson Robb say he would have supported gay marriage.
|
| Drew Carey makes 'The Price Is Right' his own Posted: 07 Apr 2014 05:55 AM PDT  LOS ANGELES (AP) — There's so much noise during an episode of "The Price Is Right" that producers of the soap opera "The Bold and the Beautiful," which is taping nearby, need to be aware of the game show's schedule so the rowdiness doesn't disrupt the filming of a love scene.
|
| Wails, sobs: Rwanda marks 20 years since genocide Posted: 07 Apr 2014 04:52 AM PDT  KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — Sorrowful wails and uncontrollable sobs resounded Monday as thousands of Rwandans packed the country's main sports stadium to mark the 20th anniversary of the beginning of a devastating 100-day genocide.
|
| Mystery surrounds death of Tenn. twins in home Posted: 07 Apr 2014 04:52 AM PDT  CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) — Strange, sad and macabre, the discovery of the skeletal remains of twin brothers Andrew and Anthony Johnson has mystified neighbors and others in Chattanooga and beyond. Each man was found seated in an easy chair inside the modest home they shared for decades, and where they apparently died together about three years ago, with no obvious signs of foul play.
|
| Pro-Russians say east Ukraine region independent Posted: 07 Apr 2014 04:52 AM PDT  KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — A Ukrainian news agency is reporting that pro-Russian separatists who have seized the regional administration building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk proclaimed the region an independent republic.
|
| Fukushima children start school, flee radiation Posted: 07 Apr 2014 03:51 AM PDT  MATSUMOTO, Japan (AP) — The 12-year-old girl didn't want to leave her younger brother, and her grandparents didn't want her to go away. But a family living near the "no-go zone" surrounding Japan's destroyed nuclear plant has other things to consider.
|
| Pistorius defense gives different account of death Posted: 07 Apr 2014 03:33 AM PDT  PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — Oscar Pistorius' defense team opened its case Monday by trying to poke holes in the prosecution's premeditated murder charge against the double-amputee Olympian. Pistorius is expected to testify to explain why he shot dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in the early hours of Valentine's Day last year.
|
| Another jet-search unknown: How much it's costing Posted: 07 Apr 2014 03:33 AM PDT  BANGKOK (AP) — It's not a question most governments involved in the hunt for the Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 care to answer: How much has the far-flung, month-long search cost?
|
| Rwanda commemorates 20 years since genocide Posted: 07 Apr 2014 03:33 AM PDT  KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — Rwanda is commemorating the 20th anniversary of its devastating genocide in which machete and gunfire attacks killed more than 1 million people.
|
| Ukraine says Russia fomenting eastern unrest Posted: 07 Apr 2014 01:28 AM PDT KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine's prime minister accused Russia on Monday of sowing unrest in his country's eastern provinces as a pretext for dispatching troops across the border. |
| Ukraine says gunmen have seized gov't building Posted: 07 Apr 2014 12:25 AM PDT KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Authorities in Ukraine say armed gunmen have occupied the local headquarters of the security services in an eastern city where secessionist sentiment has sparked frequent protests since the country's Russia-friendly president was ousted in February. |
| India begins world's largest election Posted: 07 Apr 2014 12:25 AM PDT  GAUHATI, India (AP) — India started the world's largest election Monday, sealing international borders along its remote northeast while voters made their way past lush rice paddies and over rickety bamboo bridges and pot-holed dirt roads to reach the polls.
|
| Obama tests work policies on federal contractors Posted: 06 Apr 2014 11:54 PM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is using the federal government's vast array of contractors and subcontractors as a labor policy incubator, ready to sidestep Congress to impose workplace rules on wages, pay disparities and hiring on a segment of the private sector that gets taxpayer money and falls under the chief executive's control.
|
| First women joining Palestinian commando unit Posted: 06 Apr 2014 11:54 PM PDT  JERICHO, West Bank (AP) — Palestinian women in combat fatigues and headscarves rappelled down a six-story tower, fired assault rifles at imaginary terrorists and in a drill straight out of the movies bundled a would-be VIP into a car and sped off after a shooting.
|
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire